COMMON GROUND COFFEE HOUSE #78

I'd be more than willing to send all my snow (year around) to anywhere in Texas (or Georgia for that matter)!

 

Hey Brother Dan! What's worst than having snowflakes in May? Having over 50,000 peaceniks blocking the traffic, on top of 30,000 bicyclists who are taking over your highways, and then the Yankee fans leaving the stadium create a wall-to-wall barricade on your way to church. That's what happened to us this past Sunday in the BIG Apple.

 

Well it's been a bit of a busy day today. The 2 children I keep only 3 days a week are still here. Mom is an ER nurse and she's been forced to work today tho it was a school day for her. The ER is filled to overflow, the hospital is filled and people are lining the halls in Douglas County. She'll be here soon. Another one JUST left and the other left at 5:30. I have my friend Jennie coming over in a few minutes to fix some errors she had on her term paper. She wrote down the directions wrong and had me double space in places that should have been single spaced, etc.

I am going to have to be a magician for 3 days, one week this summer! I'm taking 7 children to Bible School on those 3 days and my car will only hold four children unless I put some in the back that has no seat belts. We're only 2 miles from church. I'll probably need to recruit a ride or have the church van come get some of them for me!

GREAT News, Bro. David about the young souls being saved! Once they past 13, the chances of them coming to the Lord drops off sharply. That's why Youth Miniters are so important. The two kids who are still here are a Youth Ministers kids.

 

Oh my, Barnabas, that sounds terrible. One time I took what I thought would be a shortcut through the country side and there were bicyclists in the way. Did they let me pass? No way! On a two lane highway, I had to follow them for about 20 miles.

 

Oh, snow, glorious snow!!! I'll take any that anyone will send me!! (My family thinks I'm nuts!) It's going to hit freezing here tonight...maybe there's a chance for it!

Diane, in my younger days I took seven kids to VBS in a Chevy monza (front bucket seats). I was definitely illegal! Not a good idea! I'm glad you're asking for help!!!

 

Pamela, Think I can shrink them and put them in my pockets? LOLOL Things have a way of working themselves out for me. I'm just such a planner tho. One family only comes 3 days a week. I'll have their 3 kids those days. One child comes only 4 days a week. The other family has 2 children and will be here everyday during the summer. Then I have my Nick who is old enough to sit in the very back if necessary. Georgia doesn't have any laws for older children. Still... better safe than sorry!

No thanks for the snow Dan! We had two gas heating bills of $120. and $140. We've got our whole house fan going tonight.

 

Snow in the Tier, Dan? That's not fair! I'm a solid 3 wood from the Adirondack Park and all we got was rain. Moving out your way in a couple of weeks. Bought new liners for my Sorels.

$120 and $140 for heating bills? With two churches and a parsonage we spend about $6500 a year just on fuel oil. Want to trade, Diane?

 

MRI was a success!!! Praise God, I'm glad that's over. The medicine to mellow me out didn't really do anything that I could notice. What really helped was that my head and sinuses were relatively clear, and I wasn't gagging on stuff in my throat, thanks to the RX nasal spray I've been using for the past 5 days. Plus, it was cooler, and this time I had a nice young man for a tech, who was very understanding and kind. Treated me like his mother! That all helped, too.

Now I have to wait to find out the diagnosis. If I do not have a rotator cuff tear, then the physical therapists will really start to work me over. If I do, they might let it heal itself, or have to fix it. I'm hoping for the first, even though it means more hard training in PT.

Thanks for all your prayers and concern. I think I'll turn in. Maybe that's what the meds did for me, make me sleepy.

G'nite.

 

LOL, and that's the only big bills we HAD for heating! No thanks.

Hey, guess what? I TOLD you things always work out. My best friend needed her term paper corrected and while here I mentioned having 7 kids for Bibleschool. Her van holds 8 people. There's her and the three kids so she has 4 empty seats and will come here, pick up four and then bring them back home. I'll have the three in car seats in my car. Already solved and it's 6 weeks til Bible School. God is good all the time. All the time, God is GOOD!

I think our church said our electric bill is $4,000 a month. EEK!!

 

Our highest natural gas bill was $55.00. I really like our heat pump. We stay so warm and cozy at a very low cost. That also includes gas for cooking, hot water, and our gas log fireplace.

Glad you made it through the MRI, Debbie.

Glad you got the transportation problem solved, Diane.

 

Good morning all! I had a short night. Got to thinking about stuff and didn't get to sleep until almost 1:00. I woke with Jim at 5:30 and couldn't go back to bed. The second set of children arrived and mom said Dad was going out for diapers and would be here within an hour or two. Well, I jumped in the shower and was just getting out when he left them on my front porch. I'd thought he'd ring the bell or I would have gone back to sleep. All the children are still asleep.

Whoops! I hear Brayden!

Diane

 

Wow Sue, that's a fortune!! Of course I'm only use to paying what you would pay in a small apartment. I'm sure when I get a house someday I will be shocked at the price of electricity.

Great news here. My BF should be getting his formal job offer in the next couple days (he's been contracting out for the past year). He's hoping the money will be good so he can start looking for a house. I've already got the flower garden planted in my mind. Haha.

 

Actually, Allie, Sue's utility bills are quite low for Chicago weather! She must be quite thrifty to keep her bills that low!

I have gas heat and would Never settle for a 'heat pump' again. We had one in our last new home and called it a warm pump. We were never warm enough, even here in Georgia! Gas is SO warm! We have gas heat, gas logs, gas cooking and gas hot water. Only my dryer is electric. My electric bill runs about $56. a month year round. My gas bill will drop to about $50. right away, now. Water is just over $20. a month. Garbage pick up is $14. a month.

 

That's about what I pay for all mine too Diane except my water is only about $10 a month since we are never home. I don't know what kind of heat I have. I know I don't have gas stove. How can I tell what sort of heat it is?

 

But people KNOW Chicago weather, Sue, and you did REALLY well in such cold conditions!

I know what you mean tho! We say we're 35 miles and 200 years from Atlanta.

 

Upon further investigation----Dr. Blackbird has renounced his "doctor-ship"----and has bought himself a Garbage truck-----just merely by adding and subtracting things that Diane throws away on a daily basis---Blackbird can make a fortune chargin' people by the "hundred weight"----so folks, go ahead----waste whatever it is you want to---and Blackbird will come pick it up---charge you for it---and then laugh all the way to the bank!!!!

 

Hey now Blackbird! My biggest 'stash' is stinky diapers! Not sure you want to load that LOAD in your truck. Honestly, we have a 55 gal. garbage can and don't fill it fully once a week. When you're poor, there's not so much to throw away. I gave away 6 pair of dress pants (Jim's) today to a man off Freecycle who has lost 115 lbs and trying to keep himself in clothes while he loses is too expensive!

Three of my little ones are sleeping. Ty sleeps SO hard! MacKenzie didn't want to nap earlier but was dozing by time we started home with Max. Brayden fell asleep in his car seat. His nose is so stuffed up that he can't suck his middle fingers and breathe. He's fussed quite a bit today. When I pick him up, he lays his head on my shoulder and pats my back. Awwwwwwwww.......

 

Being married to the "gas man" has its perks; we're allotted 500 gal. of propane a year, which we never use that much. I need to get a gas stove and then I will, lol.

On another note, how can I tell which is the shortest route from NE Louisiana to Southern Indiana? Is there a easy website that will give that kind of info? We usually go over to Alabama & up, but someone said there's a closer way.